Pink
by kurushi
Summary: Lina Inverse gets an unwelcome invitation. Included in theslayers community fanbook.
1. Pink

Disclaimer: no profit or infringement is intended

Notes: Pink was published as part of theslayers community fanbook project, I've linked to it from my profile, and if you like Slayers you should go check it out!

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Lina Inverse frowned resolutely down at the letter that lay in her hand. It had been mortifying enough, accepting it from the smirking postal worker who had delivered it to their inn. She cursed the way that unwelcome mail just always happened to find her, as her fingers twitched and flames engulfed the fine paper.

From where he sat checking his armour and kit on the floor, Gourry Gabriev cast her a concerned glance. "Lina? Was it bad news?"

She sighed wearily and dusted the ash off of her hands. "No, just a class reunion invitation."

He smiled. "That sounds like fun."

"We're too far away to get there in time, and if we were able to make it, I wouldn't want to bother."

Gourry's smile vanished. He gave her a curious look before turning back to his work. He very silently, slowly and attentively rubbed at a scratch on his armour with an old rag. Lina's eyebrow twitched reflexively. Sometimes, Gourry was far too good at handling her for her own comfort.

"Oh for... it's the way they addressed it, alright? The name on the envelope."

Gourry hmm-ed and put down his armour, turning to face her. His eyes held such kind understanding that a warm electric fury rose in her chest. It was stifling, the way he tried to take care of her sometimes.

"I just, oh! Why did it have to be THAT colour?" She threw her hands up in the air and paced in a tight, tense circle to try and work off some of her stress. "They just want to remind me that I'm young, and uncontrollable, and a girl, and..." She held her tongue as she felt furious hysteria building in her chest. She was angry with some stuffy old sorcerers, not with Gourry. He didn't deserve to bear the brunt of her wrath.

Gourry tilted his head thoughtfully and when he spoke, it was in that daydreamy stupid voice that emerged whenever he tried to do complex math. "I always thought it was to make you feel small and little and pointless, but not because you're a girl, Lina. I thought they were scared of your power."

Well, when you put it that way, it didn't seem that bad after all. She looked over at her pack, and wondered about the official pink robes she kept hidden inside it. Maybe they weren't a mark of shame after all, but a sign of how superior to everyone else she really was.

Gourry obviously hadn't noticed how touched she'd been by his words, though, as he followed them up quickly with "I mean, I know I've always been scared of you. You're hideous!"

Lina wasn't sure whether she should hug Gourry or slap him across the face, so she settled for using a bit of her "hideous" power to steal the meat off his plate at dinner.


	2. Sweet Spot

Notes: This was an earlier draft that I couldn't get under the word limit, and never made it to the fanbook. I still wanted to share it with everyone, though!

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Lina had used to think that there was a sweet spot. A time and place in one's life as a sorceress when she'd be experienced enough to know the right spells, rich enough to have the best armour and equipment, but when she was still young enough to get away with being a mercenary for good pay. It wasn't that female wandering arms for hire and treasure seekers weren't common, but more that everyone was used to women settling down and starting families. Running magic stores and taking care of their neighbours with the best of intentions.

At forty-six, skin a little more wrinkled and leathery from the sun, knees aching a little during winter campouts, she'd realised that she'd never found it. Not once. Maybe it had something to do with being short and cute looking. Or maybe it had something to do with learning more, facing greater monsters, needing more protection and firepower and getting all her best cloaks scorched by fire and riddled with cuts from swordfights. It was an expensive lifestyle, after all.

Or maybe it was just that she hadn't really ever wanted to get to that point. Where she could start saving money, for something more reliable and permanent. It was easier to blow all her cash on food and new thick soft socks than it was to worry about anchoring herself to a time or a place. It wasn't as if she didn't have places she could go, anyway. There were her parents, Amelia's house, a few villages that had stayed upright and remembered her fondly.

"You know, Gourry?"

She wished that the campfire would warm her toes more, but she didn't want to take her boots off. Dirt was a real pain in the bum to shake out.  
Gourry straightened from cleaning his sword and gave her a blank look that stayed the same through the years.

"What, Lina?"

She rolled her shoulders, stretched luxuriously in the warmth of the fire. "Well I was just thinking, how comforting it feels to have never settled down into a normal routine, like most women my age. I'm still young and vibrant and alive! And gorgeous, too!"

Gourry gave her a strange look. He laughed, and shook his head gently. "But haven't we? I mean, if you think about it... we settled down into this routine years ago. I've always thought we had this great old complacency thing going on, where we were getting old and set in our ways. We don't have to stop that, do we?"

Lina didn't know what to say. She was taken aback by the thought. She wasn't sure she liked that idea at all. Life wasn't about stagnating or staying still, but running forwards at breakneck speed and feeling the thrill of it all.

"You know, stupid-face? I don't pay you to think."

"You don't pay me at all." His voice was sulky, but when she looked back up at his face, he had a soft silly-warm smile.

"Why do I keep you around, then?" She couldn't help but grin as she spoke. She felt her cheeks heating up, blushing, but he was grinning right back at her, and maybe she'd found that balance the sweet spot after all.


End file.
